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*Get Started with Research*

Easy to follow guide on essential steps of the research process: Choosing and refining a topic, creating effective search strategies, finding books and articles, evaluating information and more!

Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources

Primary
Provide firsthand and unfiltered information, without interpretation, analysis or evaluation:
  • Historical artifacts, diaries, records, newspapers, letters
  • Works of art and literature

Secondary
Comment, discuss, analyze, evaluate, and/or interpret primary, tertiary, and other secondary sources:
  • Essays and reviews
  • Peer-reviewed journal articles
  • Textbooks (may also be tertiary)

Tertiary
Provide general overviews or summaries that compile and synthesize both primary and secondary sources:
  • Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks
  • Annotated bibliographies, indexes, chronologies

Originally sourced from https://bowvalleycollege.libguides.com/research-help/evaluation

Primary
Tend to come first in publication cycle; immediate to the time period and/or event(s)
Often fits in one of these categories:
  • Subjective, first-person narration;
  • Creative writing;
  • Neutral, detached reporting

Secondary
Tend to come second in publication cycle; vary from close to or far-removed from originating time period and/or event(s)
  • Tone is argumentative and analytical
  • Often builds on past and/or current discourse with aim to counter, extend, and/or supplant previous works

Tertiary
Tend to come last in publication cycle; far-removed from originating time period and/or event(s)
  • Factual, objective and concise with focus on distilling multiple sources
  • Typically has a broad, general focus and lacks any original analysis and critique 

Originally sourced from https://bowvalleycollege.libguides.com/research-help/evaluation

Types of Sources

The type of source you are looking for depends on your assignment and the type of research you are doing. Some assignments call specifically for scholarly journals to be used as evidence to support your research question. Other topics might requirement books or ebooks. Some current events might require use of newspapers, websites or information from think tanks. The right source is one that meets the needs of your research and of high quality.